I think they're more worried about the mooses bumping there heads on it or somethin..... 😟

So with the "environmentalists" you're damned if you play their style of ball and damned if you don't? Is that what I'm hearing?

What we have is a billionaire that can't pay his own taxes playing railroad tycoon because he has hedged his bets on pipelines with buying railroads and politician's votes. Boiled down we see the poor decision making for all it's worth. Playing willy-nilly with a crumbling private infrastructure that can barely keep up with payloads is now overburdened with heavier trains...ever see a potholed highway in Michigan? Sure you have. All of those cars being transported out beating the snot out of a paved road. Corporations taking advantage of taxpayers. They get their sweetheart taxbreaks and incentives while John Q. Sixpack has to dig deeper in his wallet to pay more. I realize I'm bounding around all over the place but they had their discussions...they made their deals...they're makin' da cheddah...and the accidents are piling up. There will be more too. Go to the ABC link and watch the video...go to the other and see the pic of the damage...read the comments as well. People aren't getting the fair shake. Corporations are taking and taking and taking. CEO pay? Yeah...it's going up too. People see it. If they don't let's make it obvious for them.

All this arguing over oil pipelines is destroying the pre owned Volvo market.

Just say'n

I drive a vulva.o:)

Well, we made a stop in Albequerque
She musta thought
I was a real cool jerk
Got off the train, and put her hands up
Lookin' so good, I couldn't let her go
But I just couldn't tell her so

Used?

I've driven new...I've driven used. I prefer used.

That "trick" your girl does...that makes your toes curl...I taught her that!

You're welcome.

Volvos suck,,

"And in your dreams, you can see your self as a prophet, saving the world . . . . "

...and pointing out the obvious!


NTSB head: Oil tanker rail 'safety has been compromised'

The recent spate of accidents in the U.S. and Canada involving trains carrying crude oil demonstrates that “far too often, safety has been compromised,” the head of the top U.S. transportation safety agency said today.

The amount of crude oil transported on railroads — shipments that frequently pass through the Chicago area — has more than quadrupled since 2005, and some of it is especially volatile, said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman.

That extra volatility increases the likelihood of a violent fire in a derailment, Hersman said. The transport of ethanol, the most frequently shipped hazardous material in the railway system, has also boomed, she said.

“With so much flammable liquid carried by rail, it is incumbent upon the rail industry, shippers, and regulators to ensure that these hazardous materials are being moved safely,” Hersman said. She spoke in Washington D.C. at the opening of a two-day forum on improving the safety of crude oil and ethanol shipments.

The NTSB believes that older models of the type of tank car used to transport crude oil and ethanol, known as the DOT-111, are not safe to carry hazardous liquids.

Trains carrying cars like these can be seen nearly every day passing through Chicago and suburbs. Two Chicago aldermen proposed banning the railroad tank cars from the city, but that effort has stalled.

Hersman cited the loss of lives and the destruction that occurred after fiery derailments like the one on July 6, 2013 in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and on June 19, 2009 in Cherry Valley, Ill., near Rockford.

In the Cherry Valley incident, 15 DOT-111s carrying ethanol derailed. The leaking fuel ignited, causing a massive fireball. One woman was fatally burned and 600 homes within a half-mile radius were evacuated.

The NTSB concluded in a report on that derailment that the design of the older DOT-111 cars made them “susceptible to damage and catastrophic loss of hazardous material.”

Testifying Tuesday at the NTSB forum were representatives from the petroleum and rail industries, who discussed tank car design, crash worthiness, and railroad operations. Also testifying were researchers who reviewed safety systems and ways to reduce risks.

The NTSB recommended in 2009 that all new and existing tank cars in crude oil and ethanol service be equipped with additional safety design features, including enhanced puncture resistance systems, top fittings protection and bottom outlet valves that remain closed during accidents.

Two federal agencies, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, are developing a proposed rule to update the federal design standards for DOT-111 tank cars.

Although the petroleum and rail industry and federal regulators agree that new standards are needed, they are divided over whether the requirements should be more stringent than a voluntary industry standard adopted in 2011.

Karen Darch, the village president of Barrington and co-chair of a coalition of suburbs calling for tighter standards on the DOT-111s, said Tuesday she is pleased the NTSB is focusing attention on the problem.

Darch and Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner have expressed alarm as ever-increasing crude oil shipments move through their communities.

But the government’s ongoing testing, quest for consensus among industry and regulators and failure to issue a new tank car rule is “hampering progress toward greater safety,” Darch said.

“Industry does not want to invest in new tank cars until (the U.S. Department of Transportation) has the standard out,” Darch said. “It cannot come quickly enough for us.”


http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-22/news/chi-ntsb-oil-tanker-rail-safety-20140422_1_ntsb-hersman-railroad-tank-cars 

Meanwhile back at the ranch....

New High: 61% Favor Building the Keystone XL Pipeline


Support for building the Keystone XL pipeline is now at its highest level ever.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters now at least somewhat favor building the major oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, while just 27% are opposed. This includes 37% who Strongly Favor the project and 10% who Strongly Oppose it. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Support for building the pipeline is up four points from 57% in January and now has edged above the previous high of 60% found in November 2011 when President Obama first delayed the project for further environmental study.

Sixty-two percent (62%) believe it will be good for the U.S. economy if the pipeline is built. That’s up from 56% at the beginning of the year and also a new high. Unchanged are the 10% who think the pipeline will be bad for the economy. Twelve percent (12%) say it will have no impact, while 16% are not sure.

Thirty-two percent (32%) think the pipeline will be bad for the environment. But 54% disagree, with 13% who feel it will be good for the environment and 41% who say it will have no environmental impact. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters say the pipeline is at least somewhat important to how they will vote in the next congressional election, with 23% who say it is Very Important. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say the Keystone project is not important to their vote, including 11% who say it is Not at All Important.

The Obama administration announced last Friday that it is delaying a decision on building the Keystone pipeline until after the Nebraska Supreme Court rules on a legal challenge. Supporters of the Keystone project claim the administration is deliberately postponing the decision until after Election Day.

The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 21-22, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Two-out-of-three voters (65%) believe the United States does not do enough to develop its own gas and oil resources.

A plurality (46%) of voters continues to think it is possible to build the Keystone pipeline in a way that doesn’t significantly damage the environment, but support for that position has steadily deteriorated from 57% in November 2011.

Men and those 40 and over are stronger believers in building the Keystone project and in its economic benefits than women and younger voters are.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans and 67% of voters not affiliated with either major project favor building the Keystone pipeline, but just 42% of Democrats agree. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of GOP voters and 56% of unaffiliateds say the pipeline is important to their vote in the next congressional election, a view shared by 47% of Democrats.

Forty-three percent (43%) of all voters who Strongly Favor building the Keystone pipeline say it is Very Important to their vote in November. Among voters in the smaller group who Strongly Oppose the pipeline, 37% rate it Very Important to their vote.

Mainstream voters and those in the Political Class are in general agreement about building the pipeline, but Political Class voters are twice as likely as the others to view the project as bad for the environment.

Opponents of the pipeline strongly believe it will bad for the environment. Supporters tend to think building the Keystone project will have no environmental impact.

Half (49%) of all voters continue to believe there is a conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. Just 28% disagree.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of Americans rate the quality of the environment in the United States as good or excellent, but 41% think it’s getting worse. Just 24% think the environment’s getting better.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/april_2014/new_high_61_favor_building_the_keystone_xl_pipeline 


Now in all this confusion...who bought railroads and lobbied to stall the pipeline???

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Authorities are evacuating numerous buildings around a train derailment and fire along the James River in downtown Lynchburg, Va.

The city of Lynchburg on its website posted that the fire department was on the scene Wednesday afternoon and urged motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area.

No injuries were immediately reported.

Photos and video show several black tanker-like train cars derailed and extensive flames and smoke.

A phone message left by The Associated Press with the Lynchburg Police Department wasn't immediately returned.

Lynchburg is a city of about 77,000 people in the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountains. It is home to Liberty University and several others and is located about halfway between Baltimore and Charlotte, N.C.


Film at 11... 😟

...close to Roanoke...home of the old Norfolk & Western RR.

Beautiful country up there.

He killed it... but I bet the trains keep-a-rollin... 😟

He kept the trains a rollin' cuz his quid pro quo was Warren Buffet buying the railroad companies!


Don't look at the hand they show you...look at the one behind their backs!

It's dirty filthy politics.


What a complete snow job by the Kenyan King.

HOPE AND CHANGE BIZNITCHES!!!!


You voted for the government you get!

I heard oil trains kill about 50 coyotes every week.... 😟

Keeps the tracks lubricated.

😱

Blood on the tracks...Bob Dylan wrote an album about it...that's what I heard...I don't ever want to hear him sing it though![-( 🤐 🤐